In certain applications, for example payment card systems, it is necessary to provide some physical security to prevent unauthorized access to a circuit and more particularly to data contained within memory devices in a circuit.
This may conventionally be achieved by placement of the circuit to be protected within an enclosure. To enhance the mechanical security provided by these enclosures, detected interference with the enclosure triggers the protected circuit to perform one or more specific actions, including for example setting off an alarm and/or encrypting or erasing the data stored in circuit memory devices.
On method of detecting interference is to surround the circuit with one or more patterns of conductors. These conductors may be arranged in a mesh so that any person attempting to interfere with the enclosure will break one or more of the conductors. Appropriate sensing circuitry is provided to detect a break in a conductor. Such a method and system is exemplified by U.S. Pat. No. 7,475,474 B2.
The security module according to the present invention, which includes a printed circuit board assembly, provides a cost effective solution to the problem of protecting electronic components from unwanted access